Amber ale has a citrus taste

I've brewed two batches of an amber ale with a decent amount of hops (45 IBU) but it seems to have a citrus taste...kinda like Blue Moon. Any idea what causes that? Is that too much malt? Too little grains? Any thoughts would be helpful. Thanks.

What hops did you use how much and when?Alot of hops have citrus character. How soon are you drinking these from being made?

They sat in in the bottle for about 3 weeks before drinking. Does the citrus flavor typically decrease as time goes on?

Not sure what type of hops. It was 4 types - bittering, flavor, aroma and dry. Not sure if that answers your question.

Well your flavoring hops are key to knowing which hop. I find about 100% of the time i let mine sit after a month or few more, they are more refined and balanced like in terms of taste. You will see what i mean when you try them every few weeks letting them conditon. I dont consider my beer ready until a few months in the bottle but if you like how they are then and there at that time then drink them otherwise let them condition some.
Its possible you overflavored if you were just guessing your own recipe. I think it would become less noticeable over time,almost everythhing seems to mellow out for me if i think i have some harshness or a strong pronounced character.
Your yeast you used could have intensified hop flavors too, there are yeasts that let the hops-character shine more than others, same with your water profile.
Could also be:just what you ate for supper making it seem taste that way.
If its young still it could be a cidery flavor that maybe your refeering to( that would mean its still young) but im willing to be its your hops, if you know which ones exactly they have different characteristics that many of us will know of. Also use John Palmers How to Brew online, its free and a good reference for brewing.

Citrus taste would be coming from your hops. What was the name of the hops used and at what time did you use the hops.

I bet you used a hop with a very citrus flavor profile at around 15 min. That is likely the case. If that is the problem, time will help as hop flavor/aroma fades with time.

I remeber doing my first beer,doing a one gallon with Light or amber malt extract some crystal 20,some willamette hops and a 20 min boil,i also fermented and pitched a little high and for the longest time was troubleshooting this fruity appely taste. Not really getting that i only flavored and simply fermented too high.
Now that i think about it all i did was flavor with hops and fermenting high gave it some big esters. It mellowed out some but after 8 months it was still detectable but better.
I was disapointed then, but have since learned what i could have done, now that ive learned the basics of what to do and not to do.Because the first beer i made didnt exactly taste like beer to me with all that fruitness.

What was the recipe for your amber ale? If you used cascade, amarillo, or centennial hops, they are decidedly citrusy and would explain it.

Most likely the hops but possibly an ester produced by the yeast. Maybe isoamyl acetate?

Yooper said:

What was the recipe for your amber ale? If you used cascade, amarillo, or centennial hops, they are decidedly citrusy and would explain it.

Click to expand...

I found this thread while I was trying to trouble shoot a batch. I was wondering why my Honey Wheat had a citrus flavor. Is it more likely that the citrus flavor comes from the cascade hops vs a fermentation problem (time or temp). I used the following recipe.

-3 gal water
-1.5# Red whet
-0.25# 20L
-1 Oz cascade hops
-3# dry malt extract
-1 Oz chinook hops
-16 Oz buckwheat honey
-Safale US-05

The citrus flavor (especially grapefruit-ish) is a character of cascade hops, although S05 can sometimes taste a bit "peachy" at low 60s or at mid 70s temperatures.

kevinb said:

I found this thread while I was trying to trouble shoot a batch. I was wondering why my Honey Wheat had a citrus flavor. Is it more likely that the citrus flavor comes from the cascade hops vs a fermentation problem (time or temp). I used the following recipe.

-3 gal water
-1.5# Red whet
-0.25# 20L
-1 Oz cascade hops
-3# dry malt extract
-1 Oz chinook hops
-16 Oz buckwheat honey
-Safale US-05

Click to expand...

If that was a 2.5 gallon batch i would say from the cascades-is it a citrus bitter?Ive never got much citrus from chinook.How bout the buckwheat(ive never use that yet but curious) I think but not shure that red wheat can have a tang like quality to it not shure about that though,i would say the cascades gave you that,but isnt that nice for a wheat though? Alot of times orange peel is used for added citrusness for wheat beers.